Look around you. Only one of every four adults you see voted to make Donald Trump president. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on where you live, but a quick analysis of popular vote figures compared to newly released Census figures shows Trump received votes from only 25.3 percent of the nation’s eligible voters. And don’t get too worked up about Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead. She … Continue reading»

We have become a selfie-obsessed culture, where anonymous hard work no longer seems to be good enough. That appears to be true now for membership in the Electoral College, as well. I don’t think I would be out of line to guess that you can’t name the electors in your state. You have faith they will reflect the will of the people in your state and vote for … Continue reading»

Salt Lake City, that den of sin and vice; a city where anger and hatred is more prevalent than on the mean streets of Chicago; a place where jealously reigns far worse than in New York City; and a place where excesses and vices are worse than in Miami. Salt Lake Vice? That might not be a ratings bonanza as a new prime-time crime show. But then, the … Continue reading»

Listen to a podcast of this blog: How would you feel if, after paying your airfare in advance and enjoying a safe trip to grandma’s for the holidays, you were hit three weeks later with a separate bill from the co-pilot? That’s the scenario concocted by financial analyst John R. Graham in a recent Forbes.com op-ed to illustrate the absurdity of what we go through with healthcare. Costs … Continue reading»

Maybe it’s no longer a surprise, or even newsworthy, when Utah gets noted as the nation’s most generous state. However, Wallet Hub’s latest ranking of generosity and voluntarism, again ranking Utah No.1, is worth noting mainly because it was such a slam dunk. Utah scored No. 1 for its volunteer rate, for its percentage of income donated, and for the percentage of people who claim to have donated … Continue reading»

India’s prime minister issued a directive last week that immediately invalidated two of that country’s most popular cash notes. Just like that, the 1,000 and 500 rupee bills were worthless. Meanwhile, in the United States, taxpayers continue to pay the bill for minting pennies no one seems to use. Clearly, Americans are more sentimental about their money than are people in India, or than people just about anywhere … Continue reading»

Five states will be voting Tuesday on whether to legalize recreational marijuana use among adults. Three of these — California, Nevada and Arizona — are in the West. Together with Colorado, which already legalized the drug, this could serve to almost surround Utah, which likely would result in more of the drug, and its problems, coming into the state. Despite how many Americans seem to be buying the … Continue reading»

Whatever may be said of the dismal choices voters face in this year’s presidential election, at least nobody’s running mate got so drunk at a campaign event that he tried to butter a watermelon. That happened in 1872, which could be a good answer to the question, when have you ever seen such a dismal choice for the White House? Maybe you could argue things weren’t as bad … Continue reading»

How much would you pay in taxes should either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton become president? The question is, of course, not so simple. Either one would need cooperation from Congress to enact his or her plan, so reality may vary considerably from current campaign promises. However, I came across this nifty calculator, supplied by the non-partisan Tax Foundation, a Washington-based research group. Just plug in your numbers … Continue reading»

The United States has a noble history of losing candidates graciously conceding, even though some of them believed they had been wronged. Donald Trump’s current rhetoric about the upcoming election being “rigged” is a dangerous departure that might change things forever. Continue reading»

Welcome to my perspectives on the news

Jay Evensen is the Associate Editor of the Deseret News editorial page. He has 30 years of journalism experience covering politics and a variety of other assignments at news organizations ranging from United Press International in New York City to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Deseret News.